Even ex-Pittsburgh Steelers feel the same way as the fan base. Watching an offense that hurts more than it helps and a unit that’s struggled to put points on the board for the last three seasons. Appearing on the Steel Here podcast with Kevin Adams, former OL Trai Essex blasted how the offense is currently run, one without creativity or adjustments.
“I think we have good players,” Essex told Adams. “Why aren’t we moving the pocket for Kenny [Pickett]? Why don’t we have more designed runs for Mitch Trubisky? Why aren’t we doing something that is more creative, that gets the guys excited. Nobody wants to see an end around anymore. I’m tired of these damn reverses. Come up with something that gets the guys going. That looks like this offense wants to be explosive.”
Explosive hasn’t been in the Steelers’ vocabulary much recently. While the running game has perked up and rattled off more 20-plus yard runs than in recent years, the passing game hasn’t been able to say the same. On the year, Pittsburgh has just 31 completions of 20 or more yards, tied for 26th in the NFL. That’s not good enough in a modern passing game that requires chunk plays. Teams at the bottom have ugly records like the Las Vegas Raiders, Carolina Panthers, and New York Jets. Teams at the top are contenders like the San Francisco 49ers, Detroit Lions, and Dallas Cowboys.
A lack of big plays puts the Steelers into too many third downs and they’re struggling there just as much, barely converting more than one-third of the time. Even in games where they’ve been successful it’s still an issue. In their Week 12 win over the Cincinnati Bengals, the Steelers had 17 third downs. To their credit, they converted eight of them, a good percentage, but more chunks plays would’ve avoided possession downs entirely. An ideal outcome.
The Steelers are on track to have their worst scoring output since 1970, registering even fewer points per game than they did during their terrible 2019 season when they were hammered by injuries across the board. The team’s next offensive coordinator, almost certainly an outside hire, will be tasked to rejuvenate this offense and wire it for more big plays and definitely more points.
Check out the whole episode below.
